


Boyfriend

by AlwaysEverlark



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Co-workers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Jealous Ben Solo, One Shot, Some fluff but at the very end, but Ben doesn’t dance, everything starts with a dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-14 06:37:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20596349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysEverlark/pseuds/AlwaysEverlark
Summary: Bases on the prompt by @sofondabooksRey  & Ben  are work frenemies who are secretly fucking. They are content with their arrangement, until Poe Dameron joins their firm. Poe falls for Rey and starts to seriously woo her. Ben wonders why he’s feeling so upset...after all, he ain’t her boyfriend





	Boyfriend

It is Monday and Ben needs a coffee before he can be ready for meeting with Hux. Well, maybe not ready, because nothing in the world can get him ready for a Monday morning with Hux, but at least make it bearable.

The other reason about him needing coffee is that he stayed up late last night (actually very late), because of someone’s fault... not that he is complaining about it.

Speaking of the devil, he listens to her cristaline laugh coming from the coffee room. Their intercourses aren’t usually filled with laughter, but with whines and groans, noises of shoes and belts hitting the floor and frantic kisses and “fuck, this is awesome” but not with laughs and sloppy kisses like yesterday. 

Ben thought there wasn’t any sexier sound in the world that Rey coming at his ministrations but since yesterday he is sure that her laughter, is at the same time the sexiest and sweetest sound in the world. It makes things not only to his groin but to his heart too.

Sunday evening started like many others, with them making out from the moment she crossed the threshold of his apartment. Before, they only met on Thursdays. Thursdays were their day ever since they started this co-workers with benefits relationship four months ago, but since three weeks ago they have somehow added Sundays too. However, this time she caressed his jaw and ran her fingers through his hair while whispering in his ear “God, I’ve been thinking all day about this, about your hair in my hands” and his whole world turned upside down. 

Later that afternoon, Ben discovered, either by accident or by a stroke of luck, that she was ticklish. He was planning to kiss and lick every inch of her body for round two but when he touched her feet she laughed out loud and kicked him.

“What is this?” Ben asked amused touching her feet again.

“Don’t do that Solo or I’ll make you pay for this” she said trying to convey a menacing voice, but Ben wasn’t someone who could pass on a challenge, so he started to touch and tickle her legs, her belly, her ribs ... and she squirmed and laughed under his touch.

“I’m going to kill you, Solo, I warned you,” she said when he finally stopped torturing her. 

“And what do you plan to do?” He questioned, moving up to look at her eyes, hoping that his eyes, his traitorous eyes, weren’t giving away all the adoration and nervousness he was feeling at that same moment, only to find her looking at him the same way, and they resumed their kisses for hours just as teenagers learning for the very first time what fall in love is. 

He fights back a smile biting his lip; he is at the office after all and he needs to keep up his business persona. They call him "a monster" for a reason, and he needs to maintain that reputation. When he steps into the kitchen, his smile drops when he sees Rey in the hands of the new golden boy. They are dancing salsa, and he’s spinning her before bringing her very close to his body.

Ben can feel how his blood is burning and his ears (perfectly hidden by his hair) are turning red. He is about to snap when Rose and Finn clap and say in unison “oh guys, you are so cute dancing together. Rey you should totally come with us next Thursday when we go to the Latino disco” . That is the moment Rey realises Ben is there staring at her, but he rapidly gives her his back and starts to prepare his coffee.

“I don’t know guys,” she says with hesitation in her voice “you know I have my yoga class on Thursday evenings.” 

“C’mon Peanut,” Finn answers “we are going to work out too, dancing, and it will be fun to be the four of us.” 

At the thought of “the four of them” like a double date, Ben cringes and knows he needs to get the fuck out of there if he doesn’t want his churning emotions to get the best of him.

“Ok guys, I’ll think about it,” Rey says, eliciting a hurrah from Poe.

Ben should have known it; he is a moron after all. There was no way a sunflower such as Rey would want to be with him. She is his total opposite. She is kind and optimistic and gentle. She is bright... just like Poe Fucking Dameron. He can’t deny that truth to himself. They were never going to be together for good, he should be happy for the time he managed to steal from her. But he can’t. 

He focuses on his work, or at least he tries, but it is hard. He doesn’t know what his next move should be, and the week becomes a nightmare...until Wednesday, when it transforms into hell.

He doesn’t plan to eavesdrop but he can’t help it. It’s Wednesday very early in the morning. decided to take a run to the office to burn some extra energy and he is in the men’s restroom after a very long and hot shower when he can hear Finn and Poe talking about Rey.

“So, is she dating someone?” Poe asks Finn.

“No, she isn’t ... officially at least. She’s had some one-night stands in the past few months, nothing serious though.” Ben can hear his own heart breaking into pieces... but the conversation isn’t over yet. 

“I’m going to ask her on a date. I really really like her, I think she might be the one.”

“Wow, that is a bit sudden” Finn exclaims.

“Maybe, but when you know, you know. It is better to take your chance, if not someone might make that decision for you. Do you think she will say yes?”

“I don’t know dude, I know she likes you, but she’s a private person about her feelings and we don’t talk too much about this type of stuff.”

They keep chatting for a couple of long minutes before leaving the restroom and it is then when Ben collapses. Sitting on the cold floor, he knows the game is over.

When he gets to his office, he’s made a decision. He needs to end this thing before she does, it will hurt the same but at least he’ll keep some dignity.

He calls Phasma, his P.A. and tells her there’s been a change on the delivery of the draft for the Chandrila project. He knows this is going to piss off his team (Hux, Mitaka, Phasma and Tam aren’t going to be happy about it), but he needs to keep his head busy and needs to buy some time and space before meeting Rey again.

On Thursday afternoon, he receives an email from her with the topic “Chandrila” ... which is weird because she isn’t working on his project. He reads it carefully.

“Hey! I heard about the Chandrila Project... I guess you are super busy but I hope you can make it to our meeting later today.”

“Meeting,” that is how they have called it these last four months. There is no rule against work relationships and they don’t even work in the same department, although they interact quite often, but it was part of their casual arrangement, and how everything started between them: a heated discussion in a late meeting, in this office, on this table...

He never liked that word, but played along and right now he hated it more than ever, because it meant nothing. 

He took some time to reply: writing, deleting and writing again... finally, loyal to his business character, he put together an emotionless email. 

“Hi, This project is super delayed and we are going to stay here the whole day and night. We’ll have to call it off for today.”

On Friday morning, after a sleepless night working, drinking too much coffee and having an Instagram meltdown...he needs some fresh air. 

He’d received one of those IG push notifications with “RayOfLight has posted a new story” and he, as the biggest dumbass he is, looked at it. She was with his friends at that Latino Disco killing it, closer to Poe than he’d like.

Ben didn’t know Rey could dance like that, but to be honest after four months he didn’t know too much about her except the way she moved under or above his body. It was entirely his fault. He should have asked her out on a proper date, and now it was too late. He wasn’t her boyfriend.

He heads towards the elevator when he bumps into her at a corner. 

“Hmmm hi, how are you” Rey asks with a shy smile that quickly enough turns into a worried look “you look distressed” .

“We’ve been here the whole night” he answers, pulling all the strength he can from his body so his voice remains calm.

She brings one finger to touch the palm of his hand. 

“Are you ok?” she asks again “Do you need something?” but before he can answer, they are surrounded by a bunch of coworkers going out of the lift and she removes her hand, which is a good thing because if she hadn’t, he would have spilled his heart out to her.

“Yeah, all good. Excuse me I need to go...somewhere,” and he’s gone. If he would have looked back he would have seen a longing Rey trying to stop him with her hand.

Ben is at the airport on Sunday afternoon. After his little encounter with Rey, he scheduled a meeting in New York City with his associates there. His team is split between LA and NYC.  
He’s been postponing that trip for a long time, four months to be accurate, but right now putting miles between them seems like a good idea.

When he lands in JFK and switches on his phone, he sees two texts from Rey.

Sunday 1.05pm  
“Hi Ben, are you free this afternoon? I could swing by ☺️”

Sunday 3.51pm  
“I guess you are busy... again. I’ll go to the beach with the guys then. See you next week at the office and I hope the Chandrila project takes off soon.”

He debates on answering or not. He isn’t her boyfriend after all and he needs to end things, but he feels sick when thinking of not answering her. He isn’t that mean, and he knows Rey hates waiting: waiting for people or waiting for answers, she confessed that much one night.

“I had to travel to NYC this week, some important stuff going on. I’ll see you around when I come back.” he texted back

The week is a rollercoaster. Sometimes he thinks he has his feelings under control and other times he is just overwhelmed by how much he misses her. Sometimes he can focus on work, and other times (when he sees her name in an email) he loses it.

On Friday before he catches his flight back to L.A., he does something he has avoided the whole week, but the airport is boring as hell... he checks her Instagram to find out she has only posted a picture of the dance floor, but has tagged Rose, Finn and Poe... he clicks onto Poe’s profile and he sees it. His heart skips a beat or two.

There is a picture with a very smiley Rey being kissed on the cheek by Poe, he has his thumb up and his comment says: “She said YES”

Ben doesn’t have to imagine what that “yes” means, because he heard it himself ten days ago. They are dating.

He needs to drink something ... no, he needs to get very drunk, so he writes Hux.

“This evening at StarKiller Pub, need to get drunk. Tell everyone.” 

Hux answers in a minute “We’ll be there. Work or broken heart?”

Ben is surprised and he reads Hux’s text again, how does he even know? But before he can think of an answer, he gets another text from him “you are not that subtle Solo, I know how you look at her.”

“Don’t know what you are talking about, just need some drinks. The Chandrila project is a bitch.”

And fortunately Hux doesn’t push the topic.

It’s around 9pm and they’re all at Starkiller, and he’s had four or five beers. e isn’t sure but his plan to forget that damn picture isn’t working, as it’s the only image in his mind. He’s about to order another beer when he looks at the entrance door and sees Rey with her friends.

She looks tired and pale and his heart clenches, he’s never seen her like that. Suddenly, her head moves in his direction and she locks her eyes with him,like a magnet, her face turns even more white and she bites her lip. Poe holds her hand and drags her to the dance floor.

Ben reacts to it, impulsively asks Bazine “do you wanna dance?” He should know better than to ask Bazine, he knows she likes him. She has made that abundantly clear in the past.  
But he’s jealous and a bit drunk and he’s known for making awful decisions.

They get to the dance floor and the music switches into a slow tune. He holds her waist and she places her hands on his chest. When they start moving along with the music, he looks at Rey only to find she’s looking at him with an intensity and rage similar to what he’s feeling.  
They stayed like that, eyes locked for most of the song.

When the song finally ends, Ben disantagles from Bazine’s hold as soon as he can.

“Do you want something to drink?” he asks stepping back from her and running his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. “I can bring it to our table.” 

Bazine smiles a knowing smile and shakes her head, like she was clearing her thoughts. “Oh Solo, you’re a piece of work,” and then laughing she adds “Yes, bring me a mojito.”

He’s ordering in the counter when someone’s elbow hits his ribs. 

“What the fuck!” He exclaims looking at the owner of the elbow only to find Rey. “Hmm, ha… hi Rey” he says trying to find some words.

“You didn’t tell me you were back,” she says without apologising.

“Just arrived a few hours ago. I told you I’ll see you around … and here we are.” he answers as nonchalantly as he can.

“Don’t play at me, Solo,” she spits while gesturing with her finger at him.

“Who is playing at who here, Rey? I’m certainly not.”

“You’ve been avoiding me for two weeks, you don’t tell me you are back and now I find you in a bar drinking and dancing very close to another woman? I knew I couldn’t trust you! I knew this was a mistake from the beginning. I know who you are.”

“Do you?” Ben says challenging with a low voice that usually puts Rey at his mercy, but not this time. This time she’s angry with him and she steps forward, squinting her eyes as her only reply, “Ah,you do.” he says, even huskier than before.

They stare at each other for what feels like minutes or hours but is only seconds. The more Ben looks at her the more he wants to forget everything and kiss her, just kiss her senseless, but then he remembers she is the one dating another man, the one who was laughing in another man’s embrace and fires back. 

“Well sweetheart, I don’t think you’re the one to ask for explanations here. How are those salsa private lessons you are taking… with Poe?”

“Unbelievable. I’m done with this conversation if you think that! I thought this...” she says gesturing between them, hurt visible in her eyes “this was something else.” 

And she storms out of the bar.

Ben is shocked and can’t move for a few seconds. What the hell is going on here? He thinks. She’s the one to blame here, not him, and she doesn’t get to have the last word in this conversation. He runs after her and as soon as he is outside he sees her standing by the wall, but when she sees him, she runs away from him. 

“Rey!” he shouts out “Rey, wait!” but she keeps running “Rey Stop… Please” he begs finally. Finally she stops, and very slowly turns around to face him.

“What do you want now, Ben?” She says, sounding exhausted. “I can’t deal with this now, you’ve done enough for tonight.”

“I’ve done enough? And what about you, Rey?” 

“Yeah, let’s talk about what I’ve done. I’ve been waiting for you for two weeks, waiting for a call, for an email, for a text! 

“Wow, two long weeks! Has it been hard, Rey? Waiting for two weeks before you choose a better man, a more suitable boyfriend? But let’s be honest here, It didn’t even take you two weeks.”

“I don’t have a clue why you have this impression, Ben. I’ve been running in my head our last time together to see if I did something wrong… and...” Rey suddenly stops, unsure of her next words, and it is in that pause that Ben snaps.

“Don’t try it, Rey. I know everything. I saw you how you were laughing and dancing with Poe in the break room that morning, it took me four months to make you laugh and he got it in just one week? But it’s not only that Rey. I heard them, ok? I heard Finn and Poe talking in the restrooms, how Finn explained that you'd had a few one one-night stands that meant nothing to you when we were together. I heard Poe saying he was going to ask you out, and then I saw that Instagram picture where he was kissing you and confirming you said yes...and you still want to put the blame on me?”

“You’re jealous,” Rey says softly, realizing Ben’s feelings and reaching with her hand to touch his. ”It’s not like that Ben, please listen.” 

“No,” he said with glassy eyes. “You broke my heart. I know I am not your boyfriend, I know I don’t have a claim on you or I can’t ask you for an explanation and I don’t know when it happened, I really can’t pinpoint the exact moment when it happened, but I fell in love with you and this… this situation is tearing me apart.”

“Ben,” Rey says again with the same soothing tone and reaching out again with her hand, stepping closer to him when this time he doesn’t withdraw from her contact. “I’m not dating Poe, I won’t ever, we are just friends, that is all. I never intended to go to that party that Thursday but you didn’t want to see me that night or any other night. I thought you realized what my feelings were and you were trying to avoid me. I was scared because I am in love with you too, and couldn’t cope with you throwing me away like I was nothing.” 

He looks at her in surprise, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing, and then he makes the first move and holds her by her waist, bringing her body to his. His forehead against her forehead, so close they are breathing the same air.

“Do you really love me?” He says nudging her nose. She doesn’t skip a beat and quickly lifts on her tiptoes and starts kissing him with a hunger she can’t remember feeling before.

“Yes, I do. Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Rey says, laughing and kissing him again.

“I’m not sure yet,” Ben teases “I think I’m going to need some kind of proof first,” he adds with mischievous smirk.

“That is easy Solo, do you want to come back to the pub? The toilets aren’t very comfortable but..” he stops her, biting her lip slowly. “Ouch” she says.

“Shhh, no, I don’t want that. I want to make love to my girlfriend in my bed.” 

“That’s so cheesy!” Rey laughs with giddiness.

“Sweetheart, I swear to you what I have in mind isn’t cheesy at all” he whispers in her ear, with that voice that always turns Rey on.

And she can’t wait to find it out “Then, let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Reylo fic (tweet fic)  
I never thought I was going to write another fic, my goal was to finish my Everlark fics some day. But then Ben and Rey and their forcebond happened and here I am, writing a prompt I couldn’t take out of my mind! 
> 
> Thanks to my beta “Here4theReylo” for her contribution and help!
> 
> Kudos and comments are always very appreciated.
> 
> (To my Everlark readers I’m working to complete Watercolours and After the fire.)


End file.
